Two years ago Tony Parsons agreed to step down as Global News anchor and retire after the Olympics. This was well publicized with Chris Gailus the heir apparent to take over the chair. In the meantime the two would split the anchor duties each night. Just before Christmas it was announced that Tony was leaving early. Weeks later word came forth that Tony would anchor CHEK-TV news  at 10 pm from Victoria.

Now Tony is replacing Ian Hanomansing as co-anchor with Gloria Macarenko on CBC British Columbia. This is not a complete surprise as CHEK TV and CBC had agreed weeks before to share news. CBC could be a strong contender. Global doesn’t have to worry but CTV does. A strong CBC could place second in the market.

Decades ago, Cameron Bell and Keith Bradbury did a complete overhaul of BCTV News (now Global)  and took away the ratings from CBC. The CBC news department never did recover and some of their best  staffers went to  work at BCTV.

I find this whole exchange quite remarkable. Don’t  count Tony out as he is still one of the most recognized and trusted  names on TV. It is also refreshing to see two of the best professional news readers co-anchoring at 6 pm. I am a huge Gloria Macarenko fan and always have been as she is one of the best in the province.

The only constant in life is change, and this is certainly evident here. Who  would have imagined this a few weeks ago? Tony recently was on the cover for TVWeek with a big story on his move to Victoria.  Maybe TVWeek editor Brent Furdyk should consider running a new Tony  and Gloria story on the cover!